Forever Mine
by CharlotteAshmore
Summary: Belle promised Rumpelstiltskin forever, but she is only human and his magic can only do so much. ***warning for major character death***


Forever Mine

 **A/N: The angst demon woke me up at one a.m. and made me write this. Don't read it. It will rip your heart out. Warning for major character death. Seriously don't read it.**

Time showed no mercy, steadily marching onward. A new life born into the world, a precious gift to loving and doting parents would grow like a bright flower in the sun if nurtured properly. That child would have few precious years before it grew into an adult, and before one could blink, it had children of its own, grandchildren and so forth until it was time to leave the world, to return to the earth and a new generation would begin. It was the circle of life … and death. Time was a cruel mistress.

Belle sighed wearily, the breath rattling in her chest as she rested in her husband's arms. Her immortal beloved, her Rumpel, her true love. The day was warm, the sun bright. Birds tweeted melodiously from the trees in the forest far below the Dark Castle as if everything were normal, as if it were just another day. He held her securely within the circle of his arms on the chaise where they lounged. The balcony off their bedroom provided the most spectacular view of the sunset as it dipped low on the horizon, already beginning to sink over the mountain. The hand which caressed his forearm through the silk of his sleeve was tiny, the skin over her knuckles nearly translucent with age.

His cheek rested atop her crown, her hair no longer the dark shining chestnut of her youth, instead a dull silver. "Belle?" he whispered, his lips finding the weathered flesh at her temples. "Please, my love, let me –"

"No, darling, it's time," she croaked.

"You promised me forever …or have you forgotten?" he asked for the umpteenth time since she'd made her decision. After all, how could he argue? No one decided her fate but her.

"Of course not. My life truly began that day." She sighed, a happy sound to match the smile which bloomed on her lips. She had been a fresh-faced girl of nineteen when he'd offered his deal. He'd saved her kingdom from the rampaging horde of ogres which had already claimed the life of her mother, and she had let him carry her away to his lair to become his caretaker. They'd found love, only to have it snatched away by a vindictive queen and his own disbelief that no one could ever love him. Oh, but she'd proved him wrong.

His breath hitched in his chest as he turned her gently, carefully in his arms. He'd always treated her as if she were oh so fragile, but never moreso than now. "Please, Belle," he pleaded, a stray tear inching its way over his green gold cheek. "I can't lose you."

"We can't delay time, Rumpel. We've already cheated it more times than I care to count."

"And it has kept you at my side!" he cried vehemently. He was desperately clinging to her now, his arms tightening about her as if it would hold her to this world. "You never let anything stop you from being with me. You came back and faced the beast and ="

"I did," she said with a fond smile as she cupped his cheek in her hand. "I escaped Regina and returned to you. I would do it all over again if it were that simple, but we cannot continue to cheat death."

Once again Rumpelstiltskin buried his face in her hair. "I love you, Belle."

"I love you too, husband. I will love you forever, come what may." It pained her to see him so heartbroken. He'd suffered more than most over the course of his long existence and here she was adding to it. Once again she tried to make him see reason. "I've had a wonderful life with you, Rumpelstiltskin. You've made me happier than I ever thought possible. Our children are gone, our grandchildren and great grandchildren settled into their own happy lives. You knew I wouldn't last forever. I'm mortal."

"I never –" a choked sob robbed him of speech and he'd never felt so helpless.

"You cannot continue to turn back the clock, my love. Each time, you take on the price of the magic and it wears on you. I'm afraid if you do so again, you'll slip so deep into slumber to regain your strength you won't return to me. I won't be responsible for your death. I want to remember you as you are now."

He rocked her gently against his chest, his hands roaming gently over her arms and back. "Just once more?"

"No, Rumpel. Magic can't save me this time." Her rheumy eyes lifted to meet his. "I just regret your curse didn't work. I'm so sorry you were never able to find a way to Baelfire."

A tear dripped from his chin to land in her hair unnoticed. "I had you, Belle. You did everything in your power to help me find him and then helped me pick up the pieces when our efforts failed. You never failed to stand beside me. You never failed to love me or bring me happiness I still feel is undeserved."

"The Dark One wasn't able to take your love from you, Rumpel. You've always deserved to be loved, despite what you think."

His face crumpled as he leaned down to press the lightest of kisses to her lips. To him, she was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, the light of her love shining in her eyes. "How can I go on without you?"

She pressed a finger to his lips to shush him. "You will find a way." She took a long breath which ended in a cough which shook her to her core, leaving her weak. "T-Tell me a story, Rum? Let me hear your voice."

He closed his eyes and held her closer, her head tucked beneath his chin as the sun dipped ever farther behind the mountain. "I-I remember the day we married," he began. "The sunlight shone on your hair and love made your eyes so bright I felt as if I would drown in them. Remember, Belle … it was only us and that irascible hatter you insisted on inviting. I kinda miss him. At least he found happiness with that woodcutter's daughter. You were so beautiful as you stood with me and promised to love me. You're the best thing that ever happened to me, Belle." He stroked his fingers over her hair in a gentle motion meant to soothe her. "And we danced. You once stood upon my toes twice, but I couldn't find it in me to scold you. You were mine, finally bound to me, brave enough to wed the beast. I love you today just as much as I did then … moreso even."

He looked down at the peaceful smile which adorned her lips and felt his heart stutter. "Belle? Belle?" he implored desperately, but she didn't answer. A quick tendril of magic confirmed what he already knew in his heart. She was gone. Their forever was no more. "No, no, no, no, no," he wept, crushing her to him as he held her and cried out the pain and sorrow in his heart.

Rumpelstiltskin didn't know how long he sat there with her in his arms, but the sun had long since set. He lifted her in his arms and carried her through the halls and corridors of the Dark Castle, the very edifice surrounding him taking on a dark pall at the passing of its mistress. The doors leading into the Great Hall opened to find the room transformed into an arboretum, a lone glass casket set in the very center of the room. Flowers adorned the space, the castle gardens plucked clean of ever bloom to grace her resting place. With a wisp of magic, he dressed her in a midnight blue gown fit for the princess she'd once been. Her only jewelry, her mother's pendant and the ring he'd given her so many years ago. He laid her on a bed of rose petals and plucked a single long stemmed rose from one of the many vases, curling her delicate hands around the thornless stem. He closed his eyes as he remembered another time when he'd given her a rose with the tentative words _If you'll have it_ , and a tiny flicker of hope.

He leaned over her and brushed his lips to hers, his fingers caressing her cheek for what would be the last time. "I love you, little wife … forever."

He sealed the room as he left, his footsteps carrying him into the bowels of the castle to the hidden resting place of his dagger. He hadn't touched it in more years than he cared to count, but now it was needed. As he stepped out of the castle, he cast one last spell over the fortress, sealing it away from intruders or those who would seek to loot and pillage. Nothing would disturb her rest.

The gates closed behind him as he set off down the mountain, dagger clutched tightly in his hand. Surely there was some foolish soul in the realm who would lift the burden of his curse from his weary shoulders. There was only one way to give him peace now, because he didn't want to live in a world where there was no Belle. He couldn't bear the thought of living without her. He would find a way to join her in death as she'd joined him in life. He wouldn't fail her …


End file.
